American mathematician and academic administrator Robert Zimmer lived from November 5, 1947, to May 23, 2023. He was the 13th president of the University of Chicago from 2006 to 2021. He also served as the chair of the boards of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Marine Biological Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. Then, until July 2022, he was the University of Chicago’s chancellor. Mathematically, Zimmer was an expert in differential geometry, ergodic theory, and Lie groups.

In 1964, Zimmer earned his high school diploma from Stuyvesant High School in New York. He enrolled at Brandeis University as an undergraduate, receiving his B.A., summa cum laude, in 1968. Under the guidance of George Mackey, he pursued graduate-level mathematics studies at Harvard University, where he earned his master’s in 1971 and his Ph.D. in 1975.

Robert Zimmer cause of death

Robert Zimmer, a former president of the university, passed away today at the age of 75 after a fight with the aggressive brain disease glioblastoma. In an email sent to the university community on Tuesday afternoon, university president Paul Alivisatos and board of trustees chair David Rubenstein shared the news.

During his 15 years as president, Robert J. Zimmer made significant improvements to the University of Chicago’s scholarly standing, transformative education, and beneficial global effect. One of the foremost names in higher education in the country, Zimmer received widespread acclaim for his steadfast support of free expression as a core value of institutions.